Video: Sprinter Ben Johnson Comes Clean

When sprinter Ben Johnson lost his gold medal in the 1988 Olympics after failing a drug test, the world’s view on doping in sports was never the same.

Johnson won the 100 meters at the Seoul Games, making him the fastest man on the planet – a hero. But when he was stripped of that title because of the anabolic steroids found in his urine, he became one of the biggest villains in sports history.

In the wake of recent scandals that have tainted the reputations of everyone from baseball’s Barry Bonds and Ryan Braun to cyclist Lance Armstrong, Johnson is hoping he can rehabilitate his image by traveling the world and preaching about clean sports.

Johnson’s first step into the limelight in a quarter century came at the request of an unlikely partner – Jaimie Fuller, the chairman of a sports compression wear clothing line called Skins.

Fuller was drawn into the discussion of doping in sports following the Armstrong saga last year. Skins was a sponsor of professional cycling, and Fuller felt his brand was being harmed by the negative exposure of the scandal. But he didn’t blame the athletes. He blamed the sport’s organizers for allegedly turning a blind eye to the doping problems that plagued it.

When Fuller watched the documentary, “9.79,” about the 100-meter race in Seoul, he became enthralled with Johnson’s story. Fuller called Johnson and pitched him on the idea of traveling the world and talking about the problem of drugs in sports. Skins is footing the bill for the initiative out of its marketing budget.

Fuller and Johnson visited The Wall Street Journal on Friday to talk about their plans and goals. Watch the video.

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